The Queensland Government’s 2025-26 Budget has locked in $20 million of funding for the rapid deployment of immediate and urgent works focused on restoring the impacts of erosion and breakthrough events on Bribie Island.
The $20 million will be used to close more recent breakthroughs, create inner sandbanks and a temporary channel to mitigate the impacts caused by years of erosion.
The funding comes in response to recommendations from internationally renowned coastal engineering experts, commissioned by the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning in April this year.
Initial, high-level investigations indicate that approximately 100,000 cubic metres of sand would be required to infill the two breakthroughs following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
In a report prepared for the Government by independent expert consultants, RPS AAP Consulting Pty Ltd (RPS) in partnership with International Coastal Management (ICM), the experts have recommended four immediate interventions, including:
- Closure of Breakthroughs #2 and #3
- Buffering of the island segment between Breakthrough #2 and Breakthrough #3
- Construction of an inner sandbank inside Breakthrough #1 to reduce wave energy entering the Passage
- Creating a temporary channel and maintaining it from Breakthrough #1 to the Northern end of the Passage
These immediate interventions aim to mitigate ongoing damage to foreshore assets and infrastructure within the Passage, improve water quality and navigational safety, and provide interim protection. At the same time, longer-term strategies are developed and assessed.
The independent review will now consider longer-term solutions ahead of its final report, scheduled for release later this year.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jarrod Bleijie, said the funding was the first step in the Government’s commitment to protect at-risk residents.
“We promised Caloundra residents that we would urgently address erosion issues on Bribie Island and the impacts on Pumicestone Passage, and we are delivering on that promise,” Deputy Premier Bleijie said.
“These residents are rightly concerned about the impacts of erosion, and we are taking swift action to ensure they are protected.
“Without intervention, this remaining section of the island may be lost entirely, potentially leading to significant further change in coastal processes and heightened infrastructure risk on The Passage foreshore.
“The experts have advised this work could take a minimum of five months to complete, so I have asked my Department to urgently start procurement actions so we can get this underway.”
Member for Caloundra, Kendall Morton, said that budget confirmation of the funding showed the Crisafulli Government was getting on with the job of addressing erosion issues on Bribie Island.
“The Crisafulli Government is working quickly to implement urgent and immediate action to protect the Caloundra community and water users of Pumicestone Passage,” Ms Morton said.
“We are doing what we said we would do, following expert advice and listening to the concerns of local residents by taking swift action.”
The Department is working closely with the independent review team to finalise procurement as soon as possible.
